The U.S. Congress this week passed long-awaited, hotly contested legislation providing military aid to Ukraine, Israel and the Indo-Pacific, along with humanitarian aid to victims around the world — bills of which President Joe Biden signed immediately .
The aid for Ukraine is critical: Its military has been running short of ammunition and Russia has been exploiting its advantage to make battlefield gains.
This is, explained Biden, “a good day for world peace.” Passing the aid package is a victory for internationalists in Washington and the consensus that has guided foreign policy in the U.S. capital since the end of World War II. The world has been troubled, however, by the strength of the opposition and the resulting delays. Allies and partners are concerned that isolationists are gaining strength and the durability and credibility of U.S. commitments to them may not be assured.
The Biden administration first requested a supplemental national security spending package six months ago after Hamas launched its savage terror attack against Israel. The $95 billion measure languished, however, as a clutch of Republicans in the House of Representatives first argued that those funds should be spent in the United States to defend the southern border against illegal immigrants.
In February, the Senate passed legislation that would address both sets of concerns — immigration and support for foreign allies and partners — but Republicans in the House, goaded by former President Donald Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential candidate in the 2024 election who is hostile to aid to Ukraine and wants to preserve immigration as a political issue to beat up on Biden in the campaign, rejected the measures.
Moreover, the extremists warned Mike Johnson, the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, that if he brought the package to the floor for a vote over their objections, they would begin the process of removing him from office.
The administration did not give up, however, and worked assiduously to win over Johnson. His support was critical: If he turned his back on the extremists in his party prepared to abandon Ukraine and brought the legislation to the floor, it would pass with backing from Democratic legislators. That is anathema to a party that prioritizes partisan cohesion over policy coherence. Reportedly, briefings from intelligence officials who explained the importance of the aid and the significance of Ukraine to U.S. and global security motivated Johnson to ignore the threats and act.
He brought the bills to the House floor last weekend, where they passed with overwhelming bipartisan majorities. The package then went to the Senate, where it was also quickly approved by a large, bipartisan margin. Biden signed the legislation into law Wednesday and aid began flowing immediately. In fact, the U.S, Department of Defense had moved supplies to Europe in advance of the votes in hopes that approval would be forthcoming.
The aid package includes $61 billion to Ukraine, most of which will go to replenishing depleted weapons and ammunition stockpiles. (Much of the money will be spent in the United States to pay for equipment that is being sent to Ukraine.) More than $9 billion in economic assistance will be in the form of loans that can (and likely will) be forgiven by the U.S. president in 2026.
More than $15 billion in military aid will go to Israel and more than $9 billion will be devoted to humanitarian relief worldwide, including for people in war-torn Gaza. A little more than $8 billion will be provided to U.S. allies in the Indo-Pacific region to bolster their defense capabilities, with just under $2 billion going to Taiwan.
A fourth bill was included to win over some holdouts. It authorizes the use of seized Russian assets to pay for aid to Ukraine even though that may not be permissible under international law. It imposes sanctions on some Russian and Iranian officials and limits drone exports. It also has a section that forces the parent company of TikTok to sell it or be banned from operating in the U.S. That last provision is also likely to be subject to legal challenge.
Aid to Ukraine is the most pressing and important element of the legislation. Ukrainian forces were so starved of ammunition that they were forced to ration responses to attacks for fear of running out; by one account Russian artillery fire outnumbered that of Ukraine by up to 10 to 1. This allowed Russia to make gains on the battlefield.
The new aid will not turn the tide in the war. It will continue to be a slog. It will, however, give Ukraine much needed support, both moral and material. U.S. officials concede that they must first make up for the six months of delay and Russia will enjoy continued superiority on the battlefield, which is likely to result in ongoing advances in coming weeks.
The legislative win is just as important for the signal it sends to U.S. allies and adversaries around the world. Do not count the U.S. out. The U.S. government remains committed to “America’s leadership in the world,” said Biden. After the vote, Biden added that “We don’t walk away from our allies; we stand with them. We don’t let tyrants win; we oppose them. We don’t merely watch global events unfold; we shape them.”
That is language that the world is accustomed to hearing from U.S. presidents. Passage of the legislation is proof that it isn’t empty verbiage. The Biden administration’s slow, patient construction of a bipartisan majority is another sign that old ways of doing business can still succeed.
Yet, not only does the internationalist consensus continue, but the isolationists no longer intimidate. Johnson called their bluff, daring them to remove him from office and in so doing demonstrated again their inability to govern. Hopefully, he will remember that lesson if, or more likely when, they again resort to obstructionism and threats.
Damage has been done, however. U.S. reliability has been challenged. Biden’s clear vision, legislative experience and steady hand were critical to securing this moment. A less-patient, less-focused president would have come up short. One less committed to U.S. leadership and the global order that it has led for over half a century would imperil global peace and security.
There is more to be done, however. Russia has been learning how to fight better. It retains battlefield superiority. Additional aid from the U.S. is unlikely for the rest of this year. That means that other countries are going to have to step up, Japan among them.
They must recognize, as did Speaker Johnson, that the protection of democratic countries against dictators who would redraw international borders as they wish, is a necessity for all. Ukraine today is not just Asia tomorrow, but it is the future of every smaller country that stands in the way of its larger neighbors.